Bitersweet reunion
by tinnie75
Summary: Jughead's mom and sister finally come back, but the reunion doesn't erase the pain.


**I haven't written fanfiction in years, but since Riverdale is my current obsession, I had to give it a try. I hope you'll enjoy :)**

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"As much as we enjoy your cooking, it really isn't necessary to keep bringing us food," Jughead said, lifting up the two casseroles in his hands as he and Betty walked towards his father's trailer. Luckily for him and his father, Betty enjoyed cooking and baking tremendously and kept supplying them with delicious meals, as if worried they would starve to death without her help.

"I know." Betty shrugged. "But I'm trying to win your dad over. And since you moved back in with him again, I need to make sure you always have enough food. Not that here is such a thing as enough food for Jughead Jones." She smirked at her boyfriend, lightly nudging him with her elbow.

"My dad loves you already. Which makes two of the Jones' men." Jughead grinned at her and leaned over to press his lips to hers, before handing over the food to her and unlocking the trailer.

Mere seconds after they walked in, they heard the thumping of two small feet and suddenly Jughead was pulled into a tight hug. "Juggie!" excited voice that could only belong to one person filled his ears.

"Jellybean? How... What... What are you doing here?" Jughead stammered out after a few moments. He hadn't seen his younger sister in months. They kept in touch through occasional phone calls and emails, but even those became sparser since their father's arrest. He was pretty sure it was their mother's decision to keep her daughter away from the Jones' men. As if interacting with her own brother and father would send her on the dark path of becoming a criminal.

"I told you. It's JB now," the girl said with a frown as she pulled away from her brother and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Sorry. Must've slipped my mind," Jughead said, but Jellybean's eyes were no longer on him, instead watching Betty who was still silently standing by the door, watching the small family reunion. "You remember Betty, right?"

"Are you really his girlfriend?" the ten year old asked, her face serious as ever.

"I sure am," Betty answered with a small innocent smile.

"I never thought you would get one," Jellybean said, turning back to her brother. "Especially one so pretty."

"Trust me, neither did I." Jughead laughed, but the happy look on his face quickly froze when he noticed the dark haired woman standing in the doorway of the bedroom. "Mom," he said silently, the joy in his eyes replaced by hurt. Several months has passed since that moment in the phone booth and since the moment when the social worker told him his mother wasn't able to provide for him. A lot has changed since then. But the pain, the desperate feeling when she turned him down and said she didn't want him to come over didn't go away. He wasn't sure it was ever going to go away. But over the couple of weeks he spent with his foster family and then back at this trailer with his father, he was able to push the memory aside and try to come to terms with the fact, that his mother was probably too ashamed of their family to ever meet with them again.

"Juggie." Betty's soft voice brought him back to reality. "Can I talk to your mom for a second first?" she asked and Jughead replied with a simple nod. He wasn't sure he could form any words for his mother at that moment anyway. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before walking over to Gladys, her head high and look of determination in her eyes. "I think we need to talk," Betty said and shut the door behind them, using the little bit of privacy that the small bedroom could offer them.

"Betty, sweetheart, I haven't seen you in so long. But I heard you were taking good care of my boys and..."

"Cut the crap!" Betty growled in rage, interrupting Gladys in whatever sweet speech she had prepared. She never talked to adults this way and Alice Cooper would be probably mortified to see her daughter act like that. But this was no ordinary situation for Betty and she had to try really hard not to curl her hands into tight fists and pierce the skin of her palms with her nails. A habit she has been successfully beating for months now. "I don't know what you are going through or what was happening in your life. And maybe I don't have the right to know. You don't owe me anything. But Jughead..." she took a deep breath, trying to stop the tears in her eyes from forming as she remembered how broken her boyfriend sounded when he told her about the conversation with his mother. FP had just been arrested and his world was falling apart, especially after finding out he was betrayed by his friends. But his mother telling him he couldn't come over to visit her was the last drop in the ocean of his misery. "He needed you. He was going through the toughest moment of his life. He needed his mother. And you turned him down. Without even giving him a reason. Who does that?" Betty cried out, angrily wiping the tears that were now running down her face.

Gladys stared at her silently for a moment, surprised that the sweet looking blonde even had so much rage in her. "I know. I should've been there for him. But I had no idea. And I..."

Betty stopped her once again. "I don't need to hear your explanation. Or your excuses. Or apologies. Your son does. And I hope you came back with a good one. Because I love him. And I'm willing to fight anyone who wants to hurt him. Even if it's his own mother." Betty have Gladys one more long stare to let her know she really meant it, before storming out of the room. Through the window she saw that Jughead and Jellybean were now sitting just outside the trailer playing with Hot Dog, the little dog gifted to Jughead by the Serpents who took him under their wing during some of the toughest times. "Hey," Betty said as she joined them outside, gently squeezing Jughead's shoulder. "I think you should go talk to your mom now."

Jughead didn't ask anything, but he was pretty sure Betty, as nice and innocent as she looked, gave his mother a piece of her mind about how she treated him. And he was very curious what his mom would have to say about that. But most importantly, what she would have to say to him about everything that happened in the last couple of months.

"So," Betty started as she sat on the chair next to Jellybean. "I see you've met Hot Dog."

"I really missed Jughead," Jellybean said as she patted to dog that was now snoring in her lap. "Do you think my mom will make us leave again?" she asked, casting her sad blue eyes at Betty.

"Honestly, I don't know," the blonde replied. "But I have a feeling she will want to make it up to your brother."

Over the next half an hour Betty and Jellybean chatted about everything and anything, though mostly the younger girl was grilling her brother's girlfriend to get some more information about him and what he did while she was living several states away. While they had similar looks, Jellybean, unlike her brother, was very chatty and still couldn't wrap her head around how Jughead could find himself a girlfriend like Betty. A thought that surely crossed his mind countless of times as well.

When the door of the trailer creaked once again, Betty was immediately on her feet and standing by her boyfriend. His eyes were red rimmed and he was clutching his beanie in his hands, unmistakable evidence of the fact, that the conversation with his mother wasn't an easy one.

"How did it go? Did you clear things up?" Betty asked, holding her boyfriend's face in her hands, trying to read his face to find out the outcome of the conversation with his mother, his features always revealing more than his actual words.

"I don't really wanna talk about it right now," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around Betty's waist and pulled her closer to rest his forehead against hers. While his introverted nature caused that interacting with other humans was often exhausting, being around Betty always filled him with energy, which was much needed after the emotional talk he has just had with his mother. "My dad should be home soon and I'm sure he and mum have a lot to talk about. And I'd rather not be here for that," he said after a few moments of silence, pulling away from Betty, while still keeping one of his arms around her hips.

"Pop's then?" Betty asked, already knowing the answer. "Do you wanna join us, JB?"

"Yes." The ten year old jumped out of her seat, not wanting to miss out on a milkshake and burger. "But only if you're treating."

Betty let out a hearty laugh. "I guess you two are more alike than I thought."

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 **I originally came up with this idea before the whole phone booth scene and this story was much cuter, but since now everyone is lowkey hating on Jughead's mom, I thought a story that would more likely resemble reality would be more appropriate.**

 **Thank you for reading and please let me know your thoughts in the comments :)**


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